Providing search across the indexes requires other parties to provide them, but that architectural constraint has paradoxically become a key driver of BitTorrent’s popularity by providing a simple business model. Ernesto at TorrentFreak explains that easy monetization explains the ubiquity of indexes : “BitTorrent sites can generate some serious revenue, enough to sustain the site and make a decent living. In general, ad rates per impression are very low, but thanks to the huge amounts of traffic it quickly adds up. This money aspect has made it possible for sites to thrive, and has also lured many gold diggers into starting a torrent site over the years“.

With commercial interests comes spam and legal vulnerabilities – so I feel much more comfortable knowing that decentralized protocols exist to provide resilience towards the censorship that lurks over us in the dark, waiting for us to become complacently reliant on centralized resources. Happy birthday Gnutella !